Chicken Noodle Soup
by Jestana
Summary: Minerva's not feeling well, so Albus nurses her back to health.


**Chicken Noodle Soup**

_A/N: My response to the 13th round of the challenge tag. One of the two gets hurt or sick and has to go to the hospital wing (it can be as serious as a broken limb or as minor as a heavy duty paper cut), and the other just nurses him/her back to health._

"Good morning, Minerva," Albus greeted his Deputy with a smile.

She smiled faintly back. When she answered, though, he could barely hear her, "Good morning, Albus."

"Are you all right, my dear?" he asked, peering more closely at her.

She raised an eyebrow at him, but that didn't prevent him from noticing that her face had more color to it than normal. "Of course I am, Albus."

"No, you're not," he chided her, reaching up to feel her cheek. "You're too warm."

He turned to call Poppy, but Minerva grabbed his hand. "I assure you, Albus, I'm fine."

"No, you're not, Minerva," he countered gently. "You can hardly talk and you're burning up with fever."

She sighed, a rueful smile appearing on her face. "Fine, I'm not all right. What can you do about it?"

"I can send you back to your rooms so you get a proper amount of rest for a start," he told her firmly. "We can't have you getting sick so close to the beginning of the new school year, can we?"

She started to laugh, but it quickly transformed into a coughing fit. Albus, quite without thinking, rubbed her back as she coughed, a little concerned. "No, we cannot. I'll go back to my rooms as soon as I'm done eating."

"You're not eating anything as it is," he pointed out, indicating her plate, which had a single piece of toast.

She smiled sheepishly, even as she rose. "Nothing really sounds appealing except soup and there's none available."

"I'll have the house elves take some up to your rooms, then," he answered firmly, rising as well.

She glanced at his half-eaten breakfast. "What about your meal? Aren't you going to finish it?"

"Yes, but not until you have your own breakfast," resting a hand on the small of her back, he began steering her from the Great Hall.

o0o0o

Albus watched as Minerva drained her mug. "How are you feeling now?"

"A little better," she admitted. They were in her rooms now, with Minerva curled up in her favorite chair, a tartan throw over her legs. Albus sat on the sofa, his now-empty breakfast dishes waiting on the tray that had been waiting for them on the low table in front of the sofa. "I know Muggles believe that chicken noodle soup cures all ills, but now _I'm_ beginning to believe that, too."

He chuckled as Minerva set her empty mug on the tray, which vanished with a soft pop. "I'm inclined to agree with you, my dear."

"So what is next, oh great and mighty Albus Dumbledore?" she asked with a smile.

He smiled back and stood up. "Next, you are going back to bed and getting plenty of rest." She opened her mouth to object, but Albus held up a hand to stop it. "It's a proven fact that a well-rested body is better able to fight illness."

"Oh, very well." She rose gracefully to her feet, only to stumble over the throw.

She would have fallen if Albus hadn't caught her. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine, just had a clumsy moment," she replied, quickly straightening up.

He nodded, reluctantly releasing her. "I'll let you get ready for bed, then."

"Thank you, Albus," she answered quietly.

He looked at her quizzically. "For what?"

"For caring," she replied, reaching up to kiss his cheek.

Before he could respond, she'd disappeared into her bedroom.

o0o0o

"Albus, what are you doing?" Minerva's voice distracted him from his preparations in her sitting room and he looked up at her. She wore her tartan dressing gown, but her black hair fell loose around her shoulders, gleaming in the firelight.

He glanced down at the sofa, which was now a plush twin bed, complete with purple bedcovers decorated with bright yellow sherbet lemons. "Preparing for bed, of course."

"Why in my sitting room?" Her brow knit with puzzlement.

He raised an eyebrow and patiently explained, "So I can be there if you need me in the night."

"Oh." She quickly looked down her feet, leaving Albus to wonder if he'd seen the flush deepen in her cheeks.

After an awkward silence, he cleared his throat. "Did you need anything right now?"

"More chicken noodle soup would be nice," she answered with a sheepish smile. "I rather like it."

He nodded and summoned a house elf to bring the soup, as well as a plate of sandwiches for himself. "I'm glad to hear that, Minerva."

"Why are you glad?" she asked, curling up in her favorite chair once again.

Without being asked, Albus draped the tartan throw over her legs. "If the restorative properties of the soup work as we suspect they will, you will recover more quickly the more of it you eat."

"When you put it that way, you have a good point," she answered with a smile that warmed him better than the best cup of hot chocolate would.

A soft pop announced the arrival of their food and they turned to give it the attention it deserved.

o0o0o

Albus spent the next several days with Minerva in her rooms as she struggled with her illness. They spent much of their time talking and generally growing closer than they had been. They learned more about each other's growing-up years and compared notes on how much of a pain brothers and sisters could be, particularly younger ones. They played a great deal of chess, both of them being very fond of the game. After a while, though, even diehard fans get tired of their favorite game and they moved on to other games, laughing a great deal as they experimented. As the days passed, Minerva's laughter turned into a coughing fit less often, which both pleased and saddened Albus. He couldn't understand why it saddened him until he lay in bed trying to fall asleep on the third night: Minerva would soon be well and he wouldn't need to spend so much time in her rooms, with her. Now that the end was near, he realized that he would miss spending so much time with his Deputy Headmistress. Sleep was a long time coming that night.

o0o0o

"You've been quiet tonight, Minerva," Albus commented as they sat playing Exploding Snap. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head, not taking her eyes from her cards. "No, nothing's wrong."

"Are you sure?" he asked, unwilling to let the subject slide.

She sighed and lowered her cards, slowly raising her eyes to meet his. Her response was so quiet that he almost missed it. "I'm going to miss having you around, Albus. It'll be nice to have more privacy, but we've grown so close and I don't want to lose that."

"I've enjoyed spending my time with you," he confessed, setting his cards down. "Although it _will_ be nice to sleep in my own bed once again, I don't want to lose the closeness we have gained, either."

Minerva set her cards down as well, her eyes intent. "Perhaps we can continue to spend more time together? Not just for school matters, but as friends?"

"Or something more?" he added hopefully. She nodded, a smile slowly appearing on her face, making his heart pound in his chest. "Oh, Minerva." Unable to express the happiness he felt any other way, he pulled her into a kiss that might have gotten out of control if the Exploding Snap cards hadn't chosen to explode.

Springing apart, they worked quickly to contain the damage, laughing all the while. When they were done, they spent the next several hours snuggled together on the couch, not saying much of anything, but expressing so much more.

Finis


End file.
